Two 14-year-old girls were coerced into abortions in northern India and subsequently died after complications resulting from the illegal abortions. The separate cases are under investigation with both looking at the fathers of the babies, family members, and medical providers. 

Key Takeaways:

• The deaths of two 14-year-old teens from illegal, coerced abortions are under investigation in India.

• One case involving a girl who was repeatedly raped by her 42-year-old school headmaster, who then bribed the family to keep the rapes and pregnancy quiet. The girl's father agreed, and the girl was coerced to take a drug to end her child's life at five months gestation; the baby was stillborn, and the girl experienced complications and died.

• The second victim was in a relationship with a 19-year-old man. When the families learned of her pregnancy, they coerced her into an abortion at seven months gestation, which was reportedly committed by a midwife. The baby and the mother both died.

The Details:

Case #1

The first case involved a 14-year-old girl who was a student at a government middle school in Kishtwar, India, where her school’s headmaster repeatedly raped her for months, which resulted in the pregnancy. 

The schoolteacher reportedly sought to cover up his repeated sexual assaults by bribing the family with money, and ultimately violated his own baby’s right to life. 

The girl’s own father did not inform the police of the sexual abuse and even accompanied the abuser when seeking the abortion.

She was five months pregnant when her rapist forced her to take a drug to end the life of the baby, who was subsequently stillborn. When forced to take the fatal drug, the girl’s condition declined quickly. She was rushed to two different hospitals for care before succumbing to the complications and dying en route to the third hospital in Punjab.

The young girl hadn't even been aware of her pregnancy until two weeks before her death. 

When her parents brought her to a health facility to examine her stomach pains, she discovered she was pregnant and revealed to her parents the actions of the headmaster. 

Neither the young girl nor the baby conceived in her womb deserved the death penalty for the crime of the 42-year-old headmaster. 

Case #2

The second case involved a 14-year-old girl who was in a relationship with a 19-year-old man and living in Harraiya in northern India. 

When their families learned she was pregnant, both sides agreed that the girl should undergo an abortion of her seven-month-old preborn child. The illegal abortion was committed by a midwife who is now in police custody. 

After the abortion, the girl experienced excessive, uncontrolled bleeding — and she died. Upon hearing of the young teen's death, the 19-year-old man took poison and ended his own life.

While it is not known which procedure was used to abort the baby, dilation and evacuation, or D&E, is often used in later abortions to extract the baby from the womb body part by body part and has multiple devastating side effects to include hemorrhaging and uterine perforation. 

2nd Trimester Abortion | Dilation and Evacuation (D&E) | What Is Abortion?

Another later abortion procedure is an induction abortion, typically used after 22 weeks gestation, in which a feticide injection is often administered to the preborn baby a number of days before labor is induced, resulting in stillbirth. Risks include hemorrhaging, infection, uterine rupture, and even maternal death.

3rd Trimester Late-Term Abortion | Induction Abortion | What Is Abortion?

The Bottom Line:

These two horrifying stories of death and coerced abortions are active investigations with police looking at the roles played by family members, medical staff, and pharmacists. 

But death for the mother or the baby is never the answer to rape, abuse, or unexpected pregnancies. 

Both girls desperately needed those around them to stand for life and protect them from injustice and abuse, as well as their preborn babies.